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No. 516,514. Y PatentedMar. 13,1894.

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NITED STATES' ANDREW H. BAIRD, OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.

COLLAPSIBLE SLEEPING-BERTH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 516,514, dated March13, 1894.

Application filed January 21, 1893. Renewed January 15, 1894. Serial No.496,997. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern: l

Be it known that I, ANDREW HENRY BAIRD, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing 1n Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, England,haveinventedcertain new and useful Improvements in CollapsibleSleeping-Berths, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to collapsible sleeping berths and isspecially applicable to berths used on board ships and in other placeswhere the space occupied by the berths when in use is sometimes requiredfor other purposes, as for example in the case ofA vessels carryingSteerage passengers, where the space occupied by the berths in theoutward passage may be required for cargo on the homeward passage.

According to my invention I make berths collapsible into small space byadopting the following construction z--I provide a number of verticaluprights arranged in two parallel 'ranks and guided at the top andbottom, the

opposite uprights being connected by cross bars which form the sides ofthe berth and are adapted to carry the mattress or canvas which formsthe bed. The uprights collapse together each in the plane of its ownrank and the adjacent uprights of each rank are articulated together sothat as they collapse they are constrained to preserve theirparallelism. The articulation of the uprights is modified according towhether the berths have to be entered from the sides or the ends, andalso according rto whether it is desired that the berths of the lsetshall be collapsed individually or collectively.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate my invention, Figures I,II and III are respectively an end elevation, plan and side elevation ofa set of six berths adapted to be entered at their ends, the set beingshown extended ready for use; according to this arrangement the set isadapted to be collapsed or extended collectively, and Fig. IV shows theset collapsed. Figs. V, VI and VII show details of this arrangement to alarger scale, Fig. V being an end elevation', Fig.'VI a sectional planon the line A. A. of Fig. V and Fig. VII a side elevation. Figs. VIIIand IX are end elevationsY analogous to Fig. I and show modifications inthe articulation of theuprights eected by omitting portions of theleakage, the result being that in the arrangement shown in Fig. VIII theberths are adapted to be collapsed or extended in pairs and in thatshown in Fig. IX the berths are adapted to be collapsed or extendedindividually; in the case of both Figs. VIII and IX some of the berthsare shown extended and some partially collapsed. Figs. X, XI and XII arerespectively end elevation, side elevation and plan of a set of berthsadapted to be entered from the side.

Throughout the drawings the same parts are indicated by the samereference Iigures.

Referring first to Figs. I to VII inclusive, l are series of uprightbars, preferably tubular as shown, and arranged in two ranks, one at thehead'and the other at the foot end of the berths. Each upright of thehead rank is connected to the corresponding upright of the foot rank bythe horizontal bars 2 which are also preferably tubular. Thesehorizontal bars, in conjunction with the lee-boards 3 which are securedto them, form the sides of the berths and the bottoms are formed by thestout sheets of canvas or other suitable mateu rial 4 which are lashedto thellower horizontal bars of each berth. rlhe upper ends of theuprights slide freely along and are guided by theupper tracks 5, fixedto the over-head deck beams or to the deck itself. The lower ends areprovided with wheels 6 which run along and are guided by the lowertracks 7; these` lower tracks may be portable, and fixed to the deckwhenrequired, or they may be fixed thereto permanently, in which casethey are preferably recessed below the surface. In order to' preservethe parallelism of the uprights as they are moved along the tracks, theyare articulated together by two systems -of diagonal pivoted links 8.The lower ends rights at the extreme right (Figpl) are secured to abulk-head 14 or other fixed support and in order to collapse the set ofberths it is only necessary to move the uprights from the left towardthe right; the sliding sleeves 11 of both the upper and lower systems ofdiagonal links will ascend and the connecting rods l2 will insure theequable action of both systems so that the parallelism of the uprightsis preserved and they may be pushed up into contact as shown in Fig. IV,in which position they are retained by a suitable fastening.

It is clear that instead of fixing the end uprights as in Fig. I, anyother pair may be fixed and the others collapsed from either sideagainst them; or the set may be arranged to stand some distance from thebulk-head or ships side When extended and when collapsed to be run alongthe tracks up to the bulkhead or ships side as the case may be and thenbe fastened thereto.

In the arrangements shown in Figs. VIII and IX the constructionis'exactly similar to that already described except that in each caseportions of the already described linkage are omitted as indicated bythe dotted lines fr. It will be observed that in Fig. I each connectingrod l2, pin lO and sliding sleeve l1 are common to the linkages of theberths on each side of it and in consequence, as already stated, theberths can only be collapsed or extended collectively; in Fig. IX, bythe omission of the parts marked the link age of each berth is renderedvindependent of that of the others and consequently any berth can becollapsed or extended individually.

In Fig. VIII the modification as described with reference to Fig. IX isapplied to each alternate berth only, the remaining berths being as inFig I, and as a consequence, the berths can be collapsed or extended inpairs.

Figs. X, XI and XII show a set of two berths adapted to be entered fromthe side and suitable for state rooms, railway carriages and the like;this form is intended to stand against a wall or bulkhead lll to whichthe adjacent uprights are secured and against which the berths may becollapsed. As before, the up` rights l with wheels G at theirlower endsare guided aboveand below in the tracks 5 and 7 respectively and theyare rigidly connected by the horizontal bars 2. The arrangement of thepivoted links Sis somewhat dilierent to that already described, theirconnecting Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is- 0 l. In collapsible berths, incombinat1on;- the upright bars arranged in two ranks, the horizontallbars connecting opposite pairs ot' the said upright bars and formingsupports for the bedding, the pivoted links articulating the uprightbars of each rank, and the top and bottom guide tracks; substantially asdescribed and illustrated.

2. In collapsible berths, in combination the upright bars arranged intwo ranks, the horizontal bars connecting opposite pairs of the saidupright bars and forming the supports for the bedding, the` pivotedlinks articnlating the upright bars of each rank, the connecting rodscoupling the corresponding ends of said links, and the top and bottomguide tracks; substantially as described and illustrated.

3. In collapsible berths, the means for articulating the upright bars ofthe berths, which consist of two sets of pivoted links each link havingone end pivoted to one of thesaid uprights and the other end guided byan adjacent upright, the corresponding guided ends of the pivoted linksbeing coupled together by connecting rods; substantially as describedand illustrated.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

' ANDREW II. BAIRD. lVitnesses:

ROBERT A. SLOAN, J. E. LLo rn BARNES,

Both of 2G Castle St., Liverpool.

